For some reason, Flora did not receive any correspondence from Felix. In fact, Flora had resigned herself to her bedroom, barely even leaving her bed. She hadn't talked to anyone about what had happened involving an engagement with that nasty Leostan prince. Part of her was afraid that if she unloaded her concerns on someone, they would just tell her to suck it up and do her job as a royal. Would Rose or Amelia even be able to understand her hesitancy if even Felix thought this was a good idea?
After the third day of her wallowing in despair, Amelia snuck into her room when Rose was off doing some errands. She sat on Flora's bed and patiently waited for Flora to sit up and talk to her. It was then that Flora remembered how much of a kind soul Amelia was. The girl wasn't phased as she asked, "would ya like ta tell me what is wrong yer highness?" She shyly looked away as she added, "if ya don' want to tell me it's fine, but I think talkin' about it could help." Still, Amelia didn't move away from Flora.
Hesitantly, Flora began to tell her about everything that had transpired in Felix's study, and how she was to be thrown away to some cruel country to be married off. The whole time Flora spoke and cried, Amelia silently listened, holding Flora's hand. The only responses she gave were small shakes of the head at particularly angering moments. When Flora had finished her retelling of the events, she sheepishly looked at Amelia with puffy red eyes and said, "you must think I'm a fool for being upset about such things." Flora glanced down at her hands folded on her lap. "It's my duty as a princess to strengthen Prana in any way possible, but I didn't think that I would be expected to marry my enemy."
"Ya are not a fool yer highness." Amelia gently placed her hand back on Flora's. "This is a serious matter, it's not like ya are going on a date." Flora shook her head, the tangles in her hair stiff. Amelia scrunched her face for a moment, thinking. "Yer highness, ya may be a princess, but yer also a human." Flora gave her a sad smile in response. "Ya are entitled ta yer feelings."
Flora sighed, "I know that Amelia, but it just seems like the world is ending." She could have almost rolled her eyes at how ridiculous she was being. Flora brought up her hands over her face, trying to hide the shame. "And even worse, I made a fool out of myself in front of that prince and Felix."
"Well," Amelia pondered, "maybe this isn't set in stone?" She looked at Flora with hopeful eyes. "Even if it was, ya still have the chance ta redeem yerself." Amelia looked to her for confirmation.
"I suppose you may be right Amelia."
Amelia scratched her ear, looking away. "Even if ya have to marry that buckwheat, yer still the strongest person I know." A blush crept onto her cheeks as she said this.
Flora sat up and pulled the duvet off of her legs. "You are right Amelia." She made her way to the armoire and picked out an outfit for the day, something plain and not to flashy. Flora wanted to wear something that she was comfortable in. "I do feel better after talking to you." She motioned for Amelia to help her into the frock. Amelia rushed up to her side and changed her. "This whole thing still feels utterly terrible, but maybe there is room for change." Amelia tied the bodice strings and went to work tightening the pink sash around her waist. "Maybe I can make Felix see reason." Amelia handed her a pair of pink satin slippers, and Flora tied them to her feet. "Amelia, I shall be back later. I'm going to talk to Felix."
* * *
Flora started out very confident on her walk to the king's study, but as she got closer, her nerves grew. Why did she think this was a good idea again? Maybe she could avoid this talk and hide from her problems forever. She looked up, already at the door to the study, her stomach doing flips. No, she told herself, I need to deal with this. Flora knocked, and Advisor Perrin, the economist, opened the door. He noticed who it was and his eyes flicked immediately away. So then everyone else in the room knew what was going on, great. Perrin tersely called out, "your majesty, her highness is here to see you."
Felix's voice came from inside, "let her in." There was a shuffle as he ordered, "you lot leave us." Flora stepped away from the doorway as advisors scuttled out of the way, clearly not wanting to be anywhere near the line of fire. Quite frankly, Flora wanted to hide herself in that group and avoid this altogether, but she knew it wasn't possible. She nervously made her way towards the desk and sat down in one of the chairs opposite of Felix. Without even looking up from his papers, he asked, "have you finally came to your senses?"
Flora bit her tongue, forcing herself to keep her nasty response to herself. This was going to much more difficult than she thought. "I don't understand Felix." He continued reading the page, not providing her with an explanation. "Why... why of all people in the whole world are you betrothing me to Prince Andrei?" She was proud of how well she was keeping her composure, even if she stumbled a bit. "There HAS to be someone better suited for me to marry."
Finally, Felix set down his papers and met Flora's eyes. She could tell how tired he was with dark circles shadowing his eyes and his dull complexion. "It has already been done." Flora opened her mouth to protest, but he shot out a hand, stopping her. "I need you to understand your role Flora. You are a princess, and your duty is to Prana." Flora clamped down her jaw as he continued, "you are aware of how the war with Mistis has effected Prana. There are so many things that you probably won't ever understand about it, but Prana is hurting." He scratched his head and sighed, "Leosta has a wealth of resources on top of always being a threat to Prana. We cannot afford to start any conflict with them."
"So you will just throw me to the wolves then?" Flora refused to drop her gaze. "You have heard the stories of how they treat Pranians. You KNOW what they-"
"ENOUGH!" Felix's temper was rising again, but Flora wasn't stepping down. He took a deep breath, calming himself. "Stop being so dramatic. You said that you were no longer a child, so now you must be an adult and do what is best for your country." Flora's face heated. "I have already told you, this betrothal is going to happen; we cannot back out of it. Now, you will sit there quietly while I tell you of the details." Felix reached and slid a piece of parchment towards himself reading, "You and your fiancé are to depart from Prana for Leosta on the first of next month. The Leostan royal family will take you in, and house you. Although I did not want this term, the Leostan emperor demanded that this engagement have a six month trial period before you are to be actually wed."
Flora perked up after hearing this. "Does that mean that there is still a chance I won't have to marry him."
Felix glared at Flora and rumbled, "there will be no chance, because you will be marrying the Leostan prince. You are already on thin ice after the whole dinner party situation where you decided to make a fool of yourself in public." Flora's face fell. Felix knew about that? "I had to spend the next day appeasing the prince and convincing him you were more dignified than that night." Felix laid the paper down and spoke with absolute authority, "and let me make one thing clear Flora, if you do not marry this prince, you will not have a place to come back to."
Flora froze, totally speechless. So not only was he forcing her onto Prince Andrei, he was also abandoning her? From what he said, she could very well end up dead in a ditch somewhere with no one to care. This was a whole new level of betrayal. Her older brother was wiping his hands clean of her, obviously not caring about her welfare. Flora couldn't believe it.
"Now, you will go to Prince Andrei's chambers and apologize to him about your behavior the other day." Flora didn't even have it in her to object. "And you will go back to your chambers afterward and put on something appropriate for your engagement dinner tonight." Without even dismissing her, he returned back to his documents. "Tell the guard outside to send my advisors back in here."